Worried my voice would sound scratchy, I just nodded and headed over to the stove. I grabbed a bowl from the cabinet then dipped some chili out. I slid onto the barstool beside Kreed and snatched one of his Fritos off his plate before digging into my bowl of food.
“You need a spoon,” Kreed muttered.
I shrugged it off.
“Don’t need one,” I grumbled. Didn’t want to admit I’d forgotten one. My head felt a little foggy.
Kreed sighed and got up, heading over to the drawer where the silverware was kept. Wordlessly, he grabbed a spoon and plopped it into my bowl before dropping back onto the stool next to me. “If I have to deal with your manipulation, Hudson, I will not be dealing with your stubbornness.”
I snorted then fell into a coughing fit. Kreed patted my back, a worried look on his face.
“You good?” Corvus asked, a knowing smirk on his face.
“Fine,” I choked out, getting up and heading to the fridge to grab a water. “Swallowed wrong.” Leaning against the counter, I faced Kreed as I unscrewed the lid on the water. After swallowing some, I smirked at him. “Would you have given me mouth-to-mouth if I’d passed out?”
Kreed narrowed his eyes at me. “Why the fuck are you doing this, Hudson?”
I lifted one shoulder.
“Why the fuck not?” I retorted, thankful my voice wasn’t raspy like it usually was when I was getting sick. “You always told me to chase after what I want, Kreed.”
He clenched his jaw at that.
“I want you. Why the fuck wouldn’t I chase after you? I waited a long damn time for this. I remained patient. Thought you might even divorce Bonnie after I left for college, but nope. For some reason, you keep her around. So now, I’m making my move, regardless of your marriage and you being my stepfather. My patience has run out.”
“We will never happen, Hudson,” Kreed snapped, growing angry. Frustration with me gleamed in his eyes, and damn, it made my dick chub up a bit. “I will not allow it to happen.”
I grinned at him. “You think it won’t, Kreed, but it will. I am Bonnie’s son, after all. And just like her, when I want something, I will stop at nothing to have it.”
Corvus took his bowl and his bell pepper and quietly slipped from the kitchen, leaving Kreed and me alone. I moved closer to Kreed and leaned across the bar to get into his personal space.
“Why are you so against it?” I murmured, cocking my head to the side the slightest bit.
“I am married,” he snapped. “To your mother, nonetheless. And I am your stepfather. There’s nineteen fucking years between us. And I’m not gay.”
I hummed and lifted my hand, cupping his cheek. Stroking my thumb over his jaw, I murmured, “No, Kreed, you’re not gay. You’re into women. But you’re definitely bi or pan or something along those lines. The way you fell apart for me, beneath me, was too damn real to be a lie. You moaned and whimpered and practically cried for me, baby. That night told me all I needed to know.”
He swallowed thickly, the sound audible in the otherwise quiet kitchen.
“And what’s that?” he rasped, almost as if he were entranced by me.
“That you just need someone to save you, Kreed. To save you from your marriage and from your fucking morals.” I leaned in and nuzzled his cheek. I’d have kissed him, but I didn’t want him catching whatever the hell I had come down with. “I can be your savior. Let me.”
He jerked back from me, damn near falling off his barstool. Panic flashed across his features, and without a word, he fled the kitchen. A mere thirty seconds later, I heard his bedroom door slam shut hard enough to rattle the walls.
Suddenly exhausted, I sagged against the bar, my skin clammy and nausea rolling through my gut. I had no idea how I’d held on that long. The longer I stood on my feet, the worse I felt.
Corvus gripped my bicep and tugged me out the kitchen. “You need to go back to bed,” he quietly told me. “I’ll check on you throughout the night, okay?”
“If he sees I didn’t eat—” Kreed’s chili was literally my favorite food. I could usually eat two to three bowls in one sitting. He’d know something was up, and I didn’t want him knowing I was ill. Because regardless of him being angry with me, he would worry. And I hated worrying Kreed.
“I’ll tell him you ate then went back to bed because you’ve been up late a lot studying and need to catch up on sleep,” Corvus said, cutting me off. “I’ve got this, Hudson. I promise.”
Blowing out a breath, I nodded. Once we were in my room, I collapsed onto the bed, the shivers already starting. Corvus quickly covered me then tucked the blankets in around me. “I’ll close your air vent,” he told me quietly. “Try to sleep it off, bro.”
I just nodded and shut my eyes. I passed out before he even left the room.
Chapter Six
